News

CSO for PPT cocaine

The Honourable Judge McKimm ruled that one of Mr. Armour's clients would not be a danger to the community if he were permitted to serve his sentence in the community despite being convicted of having more than 75g of cocaine in his possession for the purposes of trafficking. The Crown was seeking a full year in jail for this offence and strenuously opposed a community-based sentence given the nature of the crime and the large amount of drugs. The Crown argued that any conviction for trafficking in hard drugs such as cocaine should amount to a term of incarceration in a real jail cell in order to deter others from doing the same thing. The Crown acknowledged the fact that Mr. Armour's client had taken many steps towards rehabilitating himself over the years since the offence occurred, however the Crown maintained that real jail was necessary.

Mr. Armour argued that while certainly most people do go to jail for trafficking in cocaine, in this instance it would have been counterproductive because his client was fully employed, remorseful, and was now a productive member of society. In addition, it had been over 2 and a half years since the offence had occurred. The Judge agreed and ordered the client in these unusual circumstances should be sentenced to 9 months pursuant to a CSO (house arrest).